Can someone tell me why my skimmer is doing this. I removed the entire skimmer from the sump and gave it a freshwater/vinegar bath. It produced a normal foam for about 6 hrs then started doing this again. No clogs in the air intake or anything like that. It's a reef octopus 3000int.
Skimmer not foaming correctly
- Thread starter den75
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Pablos RSM 450
New member
Can someone tell me why my skimmer is doing this. I removed the entire skimmer from the sump and gave it a freshwater/vinegar bath. It produced a normal foam for about 6 hrs then started doing this again. No clogs in the air intake or anything like that. It's a reef octopus 3000int.
What size tank are you running it in? How long have you had the skimmer? Any recent changes in your tank?
Pablos RSM 450
New member
My bad I did not see your signature. You have the right sized skimmer for your tank of total 205 gal as your skimmer is rated for 200-300 gal tanks. One thing with the reef octopus is that you need to have the outlet half in and half out of the water. If your skimmer is new it will take a while to break in. I had a reef octopus new skim for a week then stop skimming until a month later. After the break in period it pulled a decent amount of skim.
I can't tell what you skimmer is doing from that picture.
As mentioned, there will be a break in period for the skimmer since you cleaned it. What is in your tank as far as fish go? I'd like establish your load. A skimmer rated for 200-300 gallons is on the large side for a 150G display. Especially if your tank is lightly stocked. In a case of an oversized skimmer in the absence of enough dissolved organics, I'd expect to see bubbles that burst on the surface and not foam. It's the dissolved organics that cause the bubbles to stick together in order to create foam. With enough DOC's, the bubbles can't stick together and instead burst at the surface. A video of your skimmer showing whats going on in the neck would help me help you.
As mentioned, there will be a break in period for the skimmer since you cleaned it. What is in your tank as far as fish go? I'd like establish your load. A skimmer rated for 200-300 gallons is on the large side for a 150G display. Especially if your tank is lightly stocked. In a case of an oversized skimmer in the absence of enough dissolved organics, I'd expect to see bubbles that burst on the surface and not foam. It's the dissolved organics that cause the bubbles to stick together in order to create foam. With enough DOC's, the bubbles can't stick together and instead burst at the surface. A video of your skimmer showing whats going on in the neck would help me help you.
Stocking list is 2 yellow tangs, 1 blue tang all medium sized. 3 PJ Cardinals, 1 Banghaii Cardinal, 2 ocellaris clowns, 1 orchid dottyback. Around 30 corals mostly lps/softies at the moment. The picture in my original post is a video so if you click on it you should see what I'm talking about. Skimmer has been running great for 2 years prior.
Safari on my iPad wasn't showing that as a video. I switched to chrome and saw it.
A couple comments and questions. Your load is low for that size skimmer so you would end up having to skim really wet to maintain consistency.
That said, when you cleaned the skimmer, did you take the pump apart and thoroughly clean the inside of the block and the impeller?
From what I can see in the video, the water level in the skimmer appears to be too high. Has your sump level been raised? It should settle down a bit within several days as it does need to break in again. I'd propably lower the level in the skimmer. If the valve isn't open all the way, that is the first thing I would do. If it's open all the way, you might need to raise the skimmer or lower the sump level. You can wait it out and see if settles back in or you can make some adjustments now knowing that you may need to tweak it again once it breaks in.
Yes, took everything apart and cleaned. Sump level hasn't raised and has been consistent for 2 years. I normally do skim wet. I may try and raise the skimmer another inch or two and see what happens. It's just sitting on some pvc right now so all I would have to do is cut a few bigger pieces.
mushroomhead
Member
Did you change or clean a filter sock at the same time? My skimmer goes crazy sometimes when I do, even if I only rinse them out in fresh water.
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